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Paṃcadaśī: manual of Adwaita Vedanta

Adwaita, ArticlesJune 10, 2018528Views 0Likes 0Comments

Panchadasi (पंचदशी) is a classic manual of Adwaita Vedanta composed in the 14th century by Vidyaranya Swami, who was the head of the Sringeri Mutt and was also instrumental in establishing the Vijaynagara Empire. Vidyaranya's pre-monastic name was Madhavacharya (not to be confused with the founder of the Dvaita sampradaya). He also composed a famous…

Journey of Skanda

Articles, SkandaJune 10, 20182KViews 1Like 0Comments

न जानामि शब्दं न जानामि चार्थं न जानामि पद्यं न जानामि गद्यम् । चिदेका षडास्या हृदि द्योतते मे मुखान्निःसरन्ते गिरश्चापि चित्रम् ॥२॥ (Salutations to Sri Subramanya) I know neither Words, nor their Meanings O Lord. I know neither Poetry, nor Prose, but within the Core of my Heart, I see the Conscious Effulgence of Your Six Faces, which is…

Turiya in Māṇḍūkya Upanisad

Articles, VedantaJune 10, 2018667Views 0Likes 0Comments

nāntaḥ-prajñam, na bahiṣ prajñam, nobhayataḥ-prajñam na prajnañā-ghanam, na prajñam, nāprajñam; adṛṣtam, avyavahārayam, agrāhyam, alakṣaṇam, acintyam, avyapadeśyam, ekātma-pratyaya-sāram, prapañcopaśamam, śāntam, śivam, advaitam, caturtham manyante, sa ātmā, sa vijñeyaḥ. - Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad. One of the standard ways in which Upanishads speak of the supreme reality is by means of telling us what it is not. For example in the above verse on Turiya,…

Bhuvaneshwari

Articles, ShaktiJune 10, 20181KViews 0Likes 0Comments

While many Vedantic schools have fought over the ontological and philosophical status of Maya, in Shakta worldview Maya is the creative power of the Supreme. It is by acts of exclusive concentration that the Supreme is able to create a world of apparent divergence on the substratum of the Brahman. The gods are different from…

Mahākālī by Sri Aurobindo

Articles, ShaktiJune 9, 2018850Views 2Likes 0Comments

Mahākālī is Adya Shakti in the pantheon of Dasa Mahavidya-s. She is the Mother from which all else has come, the first point of creation, an eternity of existence, and the undisputed mastery of the occult worlds. Sri Aurobindo writes beautifully on the spiritual significance of Mahākālī, while describing the four most powerful aspects…

Aśvaghoṣa: Author of Buddhacarita

Articles, BuddhismJune 9, 2018792Views 0Likes 0Comments

During the 1st century of the Common Era, there was a great scholar born in Ayodhya, who had mastered various Sanskrit texts, different philosophies and held a tremendous power of debate. And he had severe dislike for Buddhists. He would go around to all Buddhist monasteries in North India and ask for a debate with…

Spiritual Guidelines for the Internet Era

Articles, SadhanaJune 6, 20181KViews 2Likes 0Comments

Since we keep getting many private messages with spiritual queries regarding mantras, diksa ETC, here is a guideline compiled by our team keeping in mind that most of the questions come from people using social media and India to search for Sadgurus to guide them. 1. Do no search for any Gurus over the net. In…

Avadhūta: His Nature, His Freedom

Articles, VedantaJune 5, 2018448Views 0Likes 0Comments

The Avadhūta Upanishad is a part of the Krshna Yujurveda which describes the nature of an Avadhūta in the course of a conversation between Sankriti and Bhagavan Dattātreya, the first among Avadhūtas. Sankriti asks: "Who is an Avadhūta, what is his state? What are his characteristics? How does he move about in the world" The supreme…

Jageshwar: Shiva as Lord of Nagas

Articles, ShivaJune 1, 2018748Views 0Likes 0Comments

Deep inside the Deodar forest near Almora in Kumaon region there is a 7th century temple complex dedicated to Lord Shiva. Deodars are considered extremely sacred among trees, and areas where such forests exist (Western Himalayas from Gandak river in central Nepal) have a pure and rare energy. The Jageshwar temple complex consists over 100…

On Mahashivaratri

Articles, ShivaMay 22, 2018599Views 4Likes 0Comments

असित-गिरि-समं स्यात्‌ कज्जलं सिन्धु-पात्रे सुर-तरुवर-शाखा लेखनी पत्रमुर्वी। लिखति यदि गृहीत्वा शारदा सर्वकालं तदपि तव गुणानामीश पारं न याति॥ O, great master! Even, if one were to assume that the blue mountain, the ocean, the heavenly tree, Parijata, and the earth are the ink, the ink-pot, the pen and the paper respectively and the goddess of learning (Saraswati)…

Power of Eclipse

Articles, SadhanaMay 21, 20181KViews 0Likes 0Comments

While eclipses are considered to be dangerous times wherein most temples are kept closed and various kinds of sutaka are followed, it is also an ideal time for sadhana and attaining siddhi. The sandhya bhasa of Tantric texts - twilight language - refer to fantastic number of japas to be performed for a mantra or…

Yogis who don’t Succeed in One Lifetime

Articles, Sadhana, VishnuMay 21, 2018618Views 4Likes 0Comments

What happens to a Yogi who does not attain to the highest condition in one birth? We have the words of Sri Krshna in the Gita resolving this query from Arjuna. * * * अर्जुन उवाच: अयतिः श्रद्धयोपेतो योगाच्चलितमानसः । अप्राप्य योगसंसिद्धिं कां गतिं कृष्ण गच्छति ॥ Arjuna said: He who takes up Yoga with faith, but cannot control…